I'm not a huge fan of pasta salad but if i make it it's either with tuna and veg and olives, or with feta cheese, tomaotes, olives, greek dressing, or an Asian style with shredded veg, sprouts, and peanut dressing

Ours is a cold salad with veggies and Italian salad dressing. We add grape tomatoes (left whole) so those who don't like tomatoes can still eat it. For a funeral this weekend it will have broccoli, carrots, celery, and the tomatoes.

cold pasta with any kind of dressing and vegetables and/or meat of any kind.

Anything more specific then this is not a definition of pasta salad, but specifications for a specific recipe.

To explain what I mean with recipe specification instead of definition, a PP said mayo or vinegar based dressing, this is a addition that is not part of the general definition of pasta salad, since Personally I will usuually use pesto or cucumber/avocado dressing for my pasta salad.

My two favourite pasata salads are:(I do not give amounts in recipes like this, since everything is to taste.)

marinade for ckickenI usually marinad with a mix of olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, curry powder, paprika, garlic, and whatever I fell like at the time, but I say just use any marinade you are used to.

To me, cold Italian pasta with some sort of dressing, and possibly other stuff (vegetables, meat, cheese, beans and legumes) in as well.

The definition in general is about as vague as specifying "garden salad", which basically means lettuce of some sort, with or without various cold sliced or diced vegetables, and some sort of dressing, possibly vinegar or mayo or yoghurt based, and maybe with some other stuff (like croutons or a bit of cheese) added in.

What immediately comes to mind for me is spiral pasta (just the regular pasta colour!) with a red (tomato?) based sauce, with very small bits of red capsicum (peppers), maybe some other very fine vegies like onion and green capsicum. It's fairly popular at BBQ's in my group - you can buy it by weight from grocery stores, that and potato salad are usually staples!

Of course there are many types of pasta salad, I would define any salad with pasta as pasta salad!

The definition in general is about as vague as specifying "garden salad", which basically means lettuce of some sort, with or without various cold sliced or diced vegetables, and some sort of dressing, possibly vinegar or mayo or yoghurt based, and maybe with some other stuff (like croutons or a bit of cheese) added in.

That seems to be the general consensus.

For some reason I was getting it into my head that pasta salad was pasta with veggies in it and a vinaigrette type dressing (no meats.)

Like a Tuna Pasta or a Chicken Pasta salad and a mayo-based dressing would be called a Tuna or Chicken salad with pasta in it instead of a Pasta salad with tuna in it.

Don't ask me why my brain was befuddled. It isn't important. I was just curious.

I actually thought there would be more of a definition.

Thanks all!

(eta: Special thanks for the recipes and/or ingredients for your favorites. I'll definitely be trying some of these!)